2The scream did not come from the dead woman’s sister.

Adrian held up a hand, silencing the room. He pressed the play button on the small black recorder found inside the red box.

The speaker crackled with static for two seconds. Then, a familiar, sweet, trembling voice filled the dressing room.

“If you are listening to this, Adrian... it means I was right to be afraid.”

Adrian’s breath hitched. Hearing Claire’s voice after three long years felt like a blade straight to the chest. Natalie buried her face in her hands, sobbing silently.

“I am recording this from my car outside the Lake Forest office,” Claire’s voice continued, her tone hurried and terrified. “I found the hidden accounts today, Adrian. Madison and Caleb... they haven't just been mismanaging the offshore tech funds. They’ve been siphoning millions into shell companies registered in the Cayman Islands. Over twelve million dollars in two years.”

Caleb collapsed back against the doorframe, slid down to his knees, and put his hands over his ears.

“I confronted Madison an hour ago,” Claire’s voice shook on the recording. “She told me that if I said a word to you, she would destroy Westwood Enterprises. But it’s worse than that, Adrian. When I went to my car just now, the brake warning light came on. The pedal feels completely soft. I’m scared to drive, but I need to get home to put this evidence in the cedar panel before they realize I have it. I left my wedding ring in the box so you’d know I was here. If anything happens to me on the road tonight... it wasn't an accident. Check Madison's private files. Check Caleb's accounts. I love you, Adrian. Please... protect yourself.”

The recording clicked off. Static resumed, then went silent.

The air in the room seemed to freeze. The three-year-old mystery, the lingering doubts, the late-night quiet agony that had tortured Adrian every single day since the crash—it all crystallized into a terrible, agonizing truth.

Claire hadn't lost control of her car in a rainstorm. She had been murdered. And her murderers were currently standing in his house, drinking his champagne, celebrating an engagement built on her grave.

Adrian carefully placed the recorder back into his coat pocket. He looked down at his brother, who was sitting on the floor, weeping hysterically.

“Where is the original hard drive, Caleb?” Adrian asked. His tone was unnervingly soft, devoid of all panic, carrying the cold finality of a death sentence.

“I... I don't have it,” Caleb sobbed, clutching Adrian’s trousers. “It was Madison! She did it all, Adrian! She said Claire was going to ruin us! She said Claire was going to tell father before he died! She paid the mechanic at the Lake Forest garage to tamper with the brake fluid line! I didn't cut the line, Adrian! I swear to God I didn't cut it!”

“But you knew,” Natalie whispered, her voice laced with venom. “You knew for three years while our brother suffered.”

“Get up,” Adrian said to Caleb.